Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media report them inadequately. We blog here because our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, New York, Madrid, London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening and why. This ongoing war is killing us.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

19-Jul-16: With ISIS involved, the refugee and the knifer/axer get some media attention; the victims, not so much

The 17 year-old slasher: German security officials chased him
and shot him dead, bringing last night's attack to an end [Image Source]

We now know more about the minor who carried out the knifing/axing attack on innocent travelers aboard a German train last night that we reported here earlier today.

Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the teen — who came to Germany over a year ago as an unaccompanied minor and had lived with a foster family for about two weeks — appeared to have acted alone. He told a press conference that the handpainted ISIS flag was found in the teen's room along with texts discussing the life of Muslims and how they "have to stand up and fight." A note found also suggested the teen may have written a farewell letter, Herrmann added. The ISIS-affiliated Amaq Agency issued a statement saying a "soldier" responding to the militant group's call to target the West was responsible for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The statement did not indicate that ISIS had any role in directing or organizing the attack. Herrmann, however, said the motive for the attack still needed to be investigated and that authorities were trying to find out more about about the suspect's background and route to Germany. "I cannot say if this is the result of a network," he told the press conference.

Over at the website of i24news.tv, they are reporting that the attacker was in the service of ISIS when he carried out the slashing rampage - and they seem to be relying on the very same source as the report above:

The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for an axe and knife attack carried out on a German train by a 17-year-old Afghan refugee the night before, according to the IS affiliated Amaq agency. The "individual who carried out the axe attack in Germany was a soldier of the Islamic State who executed the operation in response to calls to target nations in the coalition fighting the Islamic State," said the statement.

In the footage released by ISIS's al-Amaq propaganda outlet, 17-year-old Afghan national Mohammed Riyad can be seen delivering a speech in the Pashto language, while brandishing a knife. He is described in the video as "a soldier of the Islamic State who carried out the Wurzburg attack."

Afghan migrants fear backlash after Würzburg attack | Afghan asylum seekers in Germany say the recent terror attack in Würzburg could further delay their asylum applications and trigger a backlash against them. They urge not to be painted with the same brush... Germany saw an influx of over 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015, more than any other European country. The highest number of asylum seekers came from Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Many of them were underage, unaccompanied boys and girls fleeing their countries in search of a better life in Europe.

We checked to see what Deutsche Welle had reported in the past 18 hours on the victims of the slashing attack. So far all we could find was this:

Being a victim was never much good, but it's especially true about being a victim of a terrorist attack. Basically, no one in the media is that interested. It's the perpetrators that tend to get the lion's share of the attention.

UPDATE Wednesday July 20, 2016: It's now evident that the murder-minded axe/knife attacker in Monday night's slashing of passengers on a German train (a) has a name different from the one the German authorities reported; (b) is not from Afghanistan but a different country; (c) while yesterday he was neither a radical nor a fanatic today he appears to have been both; (d) there was no evidence tying him to the global jihadists on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's fairly overwhelming; and (e) the authorities in Germany, which will have taken in about a million more refugees and asylum seekers by the time 2016 is over, are completely on top of things and the situation could hardly be better, more or less. This is from today via AFP:

"Sources close to the German security services now think he might have pretended to be Afghan on arrival in Germany in 2015 in order to have a better chance at securing asylum, television station ZDF reported. In the IS video the youth uses phrases of a dialect of Pashto spoken in Pakistan and not Afghanistan and experts have indicated that his accent is also clearly Pakistani, ZDF said. A Pakistani document was also found in his room. The name he used in the video, “Mohammed Riyadh,” does not match the name under which he registered in Germany, Riaz Kahn, the station added... Locals described the assailant, identified in media reports as Riaz A., as “calm and even-keeled” and a “devout Muslim who did not appear to be radical or a fanatic,” according to Joachim Herrmann, interior minister of Bavaria state.
“According to the investigation thus far, there was no evidence on site to point to him belonging to the Islamist network,” Herrmann said. Police however later found a farewell letter he apparently left for his father in which he said the world’s Muslims “must defend themselves.”
“Now pray for me that I can take revenge on non-believers, pray for me that I can get to heaven,” the note said. Prosecutors said he shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) three times as he made his way through the carriage. An eyewitness told DPA news agency that the train, which had been carrying around 25 people, looked “like a slaughterhouse.”

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Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media often report them inadequately. Our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, in New York, in Madrid, in London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening. This ongoing war is killing us.